Bread baking

[captain wassname]

I am going to try sourdough just 1 question.
Is there any reason why I cant make a starter in a kilner jar and leave the jar in a water filled FV with an aquarium heater to ensure a constant 20 deg.

Jim

 

[graysalchemy]

No real need, in actual fact mine spends most of the week in the fridge, and I will probably be proving the bread overnight in the fridge as well.

Sourdough is certainly worth the effort. :thumb:

 

[motomaniac]

bought some organic, wholemeal rye flour this morning, ( dove farms ) and got a starter started,will fed tomorrow..... how many days do i need to feed before putting it in the fridge?

 

[graysalchemy]

You need to feed and throw until it starts smelling acidic. To begin with it can be a bit rank then it becomes acidic. mine took about 4 days.

 

[motomaniac]

Cheers for that.....

 

[IPA]

Just moved this into the Snug, as it's not really Homebrewing related :thumb:

Would it qualify for brewing related if you you are using spent mashed grains in the recipe? Beer bread is excellent

 

[BackToBasics]

bought some organic, wholemeal rye flour this morning, ( dove farms ) and got a starter started,will fed tomorrow..... how many days do i need to feed before putting it in the fridge?

It varies a lot. My most recent starter took over a week to get going and another week before I deemed it usable. It nearly got binned but it's turned out the best starter I've done. I wouldn't worry about keeping it a constant temperature - mine lives on the side in the kitchen so the temperature varies with the heating and the temperature outside.

Whether or not to keep it in the fridge depends on how often you are going to use it. At the moment mine is being used pretty much every other day so I only chill it if I'm having a break from baking and don't have to worry about daily feedings. If you're only going to bake at the weekend I'd maybe pull it out of the fridge a couple of days before use so it has a couple of feedings and chance to come up to temperature before use. Once you're done baking give it a feed and put it back in the fridge.

Something that I hadn't realised to start with is that if the starter separates and gives you a greyish liquid you should discard the liquid rather than mixing it back into the starter.

 

[graysalchemy]

My routine for baking is I generally need 300g on friday night, so with what is left frome the week before (probably 50g) I add 50g of flour and 50g of water on tuesday night, I repeat this Wednesday and thursday night and use it on friday. It is left in a cupboard in the Kitchen. By the time friday night comes round it is going mad. :thumb:

 

[motomaniac]

my sour dough starter looks nowt at all like the pics, after about 3 days it was bubbling quite well, but has since stopped and i seem to get no bubbles at all... has it died??... sorry no pics... i havent refrigerated it at all, but have been feeding it.... would i be best starting again??

 

[graysalchemy]

Has it got a clear acidic layer on the top of it, smells like vinegar?

If so then it is fine.

If you recipe says you need 300g of starter I would take a small amount out 30-40 grammes then a on day one add 50g of flour and 50g of water (use must use weights not volumes) repeat this for a further two days so you have 340g of starter. It should be well up for it then. Then make your dough leave for 12-14 hrs in a cool room (i use the kitchen overnight) then bake the next day.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[motomaniac]

nope, no smell and no liquid.... getting a bit o a crust, it was bubbling away, then after a feed, i looked next day and nothing....... think ill ditch it and have another try... cheers for the help...

 

[rpt]

Is your starter covered? If not, it might be drying out.

 

[motomaniac]

covered with a damp tea towel, which i keep wet....

 

[graysalchemy]

If you want some i will send you some dried starter it doesn't need much to get it going. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[motomaniac]

cheers greys, gonna give it another try, but might take u up on the offer, thanks....

 

[graysalchemy]

I fear I have tempted fate with my starter, it is under the weather and didn't perform this weekend. I am in the process of rebuilding it.

 

[BIGJIM72]

Rosemary & oregano focaccia.

 

[Teenage Kicks]

Yeast

just having been pestered by SWMBO to make some bread for the picnic sarnies Tomorrow i agreed only to find we had no yeast in, this meant a ten minute wander down to the shop to get some, not a problem except for the fact there is no pub on the way, but whist on the way back a thought crossed my mind....

i have various packets of wine and ale yeast including a tub of youngs super wine yeast at home, why didn't i just use one of those after all i have heard of people brewing with bread yeast and i tend to chuck a tad of wine making yeast nutrient in my bread mix for a bit of oomph why won't it work the other way around



has anyone tried this and did it work? or do i need to get the flower out again and give it a whirl for research purposes?

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

Historically, the froth on the top of the fermenting beer was used as a source of yeast for making bread, so ale yeast is where bread yeast originates. Several centuries of developing bread yeasts into something that produces lots of CO2 rather than nice flavours means that they probably aren't much good for making ale, but there's no reason the reverse can't be true. I'd say go with an ale yeast. You'll probably need to leave it to rise longer, but you'll probably get a more interesting flavoured loaf at the end of it.

 

[Teenage Kicks]

cheers tim, ill give it a go next time i make a loaf and report back